Safe Shelter ACT's took in homeless men 582 times between April 22 and August 31 this year, up from 310 during the same period last year.

During that same period in 2016, the shelter took in homeless men 91 times.

Safe Shelters ACT coordinator Richard Griffiths said it had only recently extended the overnight shelter opening hours from five to seven nights a week.

In August, Safe Shelters took in 190 homeless men over 31 days, meaning the shelters were at capacity each night and accepted an additional guest on several nights, but no one was turned away.

Mr Griffiths said this didn't mean Canberra's homeless were any better off because, despite expanding the program, they had been at full capacity.

"It may just tell us that some guys didn't turn up knowing we were going to be full," Mr Griffiths said.

Mr Griffiths said demand could slow over summer as temperatures rose, but some homeless men couldn't sleep on the streets.

"There's a couple of them who have got disabilities which would render them very vulnerable on the streets," Mr Griffiths said.

He said the shelters were also taking in men who had problems with communicating, either because they didn't speak English or had mental health conditions.

"Don't forget a lot of these guys who are from overseas often don't even know how to connect into the welfare system, which is pretty bureaucratic. It takes them a while," Mr Griffiths said.

He said homeless people with poor English skills or difficulties communicating would struggle to use available services.

He didn't support Greens parliamentarian Caroline Le Couteur's suggestion to allow unused buildings or those facing demolition to be used as temporary homeless shelters.

There needed to be more permanent shelter, Mr Griffiths said.

"You need to get people off the streets so they don't suffer long-term harm," he said.

"Ideally if there is housing for them they've got a long term solution, but the longer you leave them on the streets in the beginning the harder it is to get them rehabilitated."

But Mr Griffiths said the shelter system for homeless men was simpler than it was for women.

YWCA Canberra executive director Frances Cimmins has previously said single women over 55 were the fastest growing group falling into homelessness.

YWCA has two women's homes in Canberra as well as two one-bedroom units.

A recent vacancy at a women's home attracted 60 applicants.

Safe Shelter ACT is run out of three Canberra churches: St Columba's Uniting Church and the Salvation Army Canberra City Corps in Braddon and All Saints Anglican Church in Ainslie.

It provides shelter seven nights a week during Canberra's winters from late April to late September.